In surgical procedures generally, surgeons try to keep incisions as small as possible to minimize or reduce trauma to the patient and damage to tissue. However, it is usually necessary that the surgeon have a clear view of the operating field. Also, an opening may need to be enlarged to accommodate the passing of medical implants therethrough.
In the field of spine surgery, there is an increasing interest in developing minimally invasive methods, as opposed to conventional “open” spine surgery. The goals of these less invasive alternatives are to avoid the surgical exposure, dissection, and retraction of muscles and tissues that is necessary with “open” surgery. In general, a minimally invasive spine surgery system should be able to perform the same procedure as the traditional open technique, but through smaller incisions. As a result, some physicians feel that using a minimally invasive spine surgery system generally causes less soft tissue damage, reduces blood loss and reduces recovery time. In addition, patients generally prefer the smaller scars that are left using a minimally invasive approach.
A variety of retractors are available for use in surgical operations to reposition muscular tissue, vessels, nerves, and other tissue with the aid of retractor blades, thereby providing access to the site of the operation. Surgical retractors are particularly important in performing surgical procedures that involve the spinal column, where access to the surgical site can be obtained through a posterior, anterior, lateral, or combined approach.
Many current retractors have several shortcomings. For example, most currently available retractors are large and cumbersome, requiring a long incision length that traumatizes the patient's muscles and tissue. Also, some current retractors provide so much variability and adjustability that they are unwieldy, fiddly, and/or difficult to adjust or maneuver and are simply impractical for use in a typical surgical environment. However, other retractors may not provide sufficient adjustability. For example, some retractors do not allow independent pivoting of an individual retractor blade, while others may only provide for retraction of coupled pairs of blades as opposed to independent retraction, and still others may only allow for finite adjustment constrained to a rack and pinion system or a predefined arc for pivoting.
Therefore a need exists for a retractor system that overcomes or minimizes these and other problems.